Angelmum

Moderator
Nov 25, 2010, Zul Othman, Today

SINGAPORE - A major study on the impact of early intervention programmes for children with special needs is about to begin.

Expected to take several years, the study's key objective is to get a more evidence-based approach to the way special needs children are managed.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and led by the National Institute of Education, the study will also include different disability experts and seek industry feedback, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday in reply to a suggestion by Member of Parliament Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC).

He said: "I want to have a system in which we can truly assess and then, based on those assessments, advise parents on what works and what doesn't work."

The results of the study, which also involves the Education and Health Ministries as well as the National University Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital, will help the MCYS to make necessary adjustments to existing programmes, such as the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (Eipic).

The initial study phase, which Dr Balakrishnan hopes will commence next year, aims to develop standardised disability coding and assessment tools for evaluating children's outcomes in the developmental domains of fine and gross motor skills, cognition and perception, communication as well as social and self-help skills.

These tools will enable MCYS to assess how well children in the 12 Eipic centres are improving in each of the key domains. Zul Othman
 

quvette

New Member
Sorry i posted the same thing before i read this.....

My son has not been accepted into EIPIC though i received the call from CEL that they are processing and to expect at least 3-6months. Good that they are looking into proper assessment and hopefully quality of care from there. But first, the kids must get in. Given the waiting time, shouldn't the government also look into the area of expansions to more centres and also the healthcare manpower in this area?
 

Angelmum

Moderator
Given the waiting time, shouldn't the government also look into the area of expansions to more centres and also the healthcare manpower in this area?
I'm requesting CEL to approach relevant party to set up more special care centres for older children with multiple disabilities. The whole of Spore, only AWWA takes in child like mine .... hope after EIPIC, the next good news is govt telling me where to find a nearby childcare centre to would take in my princess. Really dont feel comfortable having a time-bomb maid.
 

quvette

New Member
I deleted yours .... hope u dont mind
No worries about it!

Btw how's do you find AWWA? My private PT just told me today that she heard quite a number of negative feedback from parents about their therapists and the way they work with the children are quite different. Not sure how different she meant but i guess professionally she didn't want to offer too much negative information.
 

Angelmum

Moderator
No worries about it!

Btw how's do you find AWWA? My private PT just told me today that she heard quite a number of negative feedback from parents about their therapists and the way they work with the children are quite different. Not sure how different she meant but i guess professionally she didn't want to offer too much negative information.

No idea how good is AWWA. When you search for integrated childcare or refer to CEL site or after ring the centres, you'll know only AWWA fits child with disabilities. Integrated childcare for kids below 6yrs old only take in kid who are toilet-trained and quite independant. Integrated Student care is totally out for my girl who's unable to match with peers ... she's still learning to play like a 1yr old child! :embarrassed:

I spoke to Rainbow Centre Yishun school social worker, she also referred AWWA cos that's the only special care school & centre available in the whole of Spore. So pathetic!! Unfortunately, :nah: it is too far from our house and school. Rainbow has 2 centres, how nice would it be if they have special day care centre. I dont need a maid if there's a suitable place to take care of my girl. I'm fine with doing the household chores myself. I need a safe place for my girl to continue to learn!!
 
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hnfarin

New Member
My Son is in AWWA,
He actually improved quite alot on his behaviour, he used to bite people and got "kicked out" of normal childcare, he don't speak, he don't even listen (but he is not deaf or mute) but now he stopped, he starts to pick up speech too, had shown me good results so far, my son is 4.5 this year, when he got in he is 3.5 years old. Still toilet training is not done but i think we parents really must punch in alota time for our special kid. He is named under Autistic. very worried that is he able to proceed to normal schools.....
 
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